One of my favourite human beings who I never met passed away on the 21st of November. What I loved about him was not only his art itself, but the extraordinary vision behind it. He’s also interesting, because his combination of talents
Hi, I’m Paul Snyders. Welcome to Large Ess Small Press. I have worked as a technician, educator, writer and art model, and now I write about friendship, love, work, art, heart and striving – and the sort of crazy pratfalls and misadventures
I am a strange pacifist – a throwback, really. The characters most like me in thinking, are now mostly in their eighties. It has always seemed obvious to me that to effectively oppose war, you have to study and understand it. This
Maybe it’s the coffee you’re drinking (top photo) Just a little less than five years ago now, I wrote that we would soon face a moment when one could be formally charged with committing a hate-crime, for objecting to a war crime.
Hi folks! Something a little bit different today (for a change – ha!) I have been drawing, making music and writing ever since I was a kid. There are years of my life when I did a lot more of one than
It has never been quite so hard to be understood. As an obsessive weirdo who has been deliberately trying to understand and reach more and more kinds of people for decades (which also means endlessly confronting my own foolishness and vanities) I
Bourgeois Gentleman-Pigeon (top photo) Hi folks, this is another one of those insights which is wonky, largely unwelcome, but very important all the same – which is to say – I’m sorry and you’re welcome in advance! Before I go any further
I am a first generation microcomputer kid – that is, microcomputers first became a consumer product when I was young – so I clearly remember the world just before they infiltrated everything, and also remember the fantastic range of hope and promise
The image of a naked fat guy running through the streets of ancient (250? BC) Syracuse (Greece) may well stand forever as the punchline to the greatest science lesson in history. Part of it absolutely is the memorable silliness, but even more
I know a lot of other people who are sure that we will need much more than our present focus on indignation, to get through this angry and chaotic period of history, so I want to review a few things which are
Catherine loved Charlize (Theremin) and Charlize loved Catherine! Woke up this morning and the whole place still smelled like fresh baked cookies – gave me a lovely feeling and reminded me of one of my favourite bits of CG Jung, as bounced
Hi folks – here’s another big piece of anti tribalism and once again, I had to throw out a dozen versions before I found the angle needed. Here’s what makes this one especially tricky, the basic idea is so surprising that it
I really did not like Lindsay, nor was he in any way impressed with me – both for fair reason. He was an older man, the very model of restraint discipline and propriety – straight as straight could be. I was a
I liked this one both for the stillness and peace in the composition – and also for the way that all the fast growing buds everywhere prove with certainty that it won’t look that peaceful for long. In fact, a wild colourful
Fear not – I just took this photo today, the old place has not being demolished. Better still, though presently an events venue (and a spiffy central one at that) they still have a fabulous screen and could again be a theatre.
I can’t be the only book maniac here who associates odd places with profound book experiences. I can even remember which subway stop my train was pulling into, when I first encountered life-changing paragraphs. Perhaps the strangest place I have found conducive
Some books bring us pleasure, some books stretch our minds, some books broaden our philosophy and expand our moral understanding. Some books hit us at a special moment in our lives and will forever bring us a whiff and resonance of that
I have had a lot of strange jobs. I’ve written about some of the important true things I learned working as a technician, which are still widely ignored (and in some quarters outright despised – like thermodynamics). I’ve also mentioned some curious
There are quite a few libraries in Toronto which hold a special place in my heart. I’ve shown the lovely Yorkville and mentioned the even more original and architecturally exquisite Wychwood library, both of which came from Carnegie’s still reverberating library building
For a few decades now, many in the west have asserted that our feelings are of incredible importance. As an especially weird example, we have tried to teach self-esteem in the abstract, without also imparting competence and confidence – or delivering the
I am almost sixty now, and I have been obsessed with history ever since I was a kid. There has always been a lot of lying going on – especially from liars who are already very powerful, who want us to be